Posts tagged Stellantis
Unions face a moment of truth in Michigan in this year’s presidential race
October 18, 2024 // Union leaders have said his first term was far from worker-friendly, citing unfavorable rulings from the nation’s top labor board and the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as unfulfilled promises of automotive jobs. They emphasize Democratic achievements in states like Michigan, including the recent repeal of a union-restricting right-to-work law enacted over a decade ago by a Republican-controlled legislature. With membership dwindling in states like Michigan, Fain will need to attract more than just union workers to secure a victory for Harris, who has campaigned in the state alongside him. If the union president cannot deliver Michigan after all these efforts, it could raise questions about his union's political influence in future elections.
Stellantis should deliver on commitments to UAW, White House says
October 17, 2024 // The White House on Wednesday said Stellantis should deliver on commitments made to the United Auto Workers union and communities affected by plant closures in the United States. The deal reached between the UAW and Stellantis "included a commitment to reopen and expand production in communities that were devastated by previous plant closures," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Unions Defy Their Leadership With More ‘No’ Votes on Contracts
October 16, 2024 // Fed up with inflation and seizing a moment of labor power, workers at Boeing, AT&T and Southwest reject deals negotiated by union bosses
Stellantis files federal lawsuit against UAW union over strike threats
October 7, 2024 // The complaint is intended to “prevent and/or remedy a breach of contract” by the UAW, according to a copy of the lawsuit that was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California. The lawsuit argues that if the union does strike, the court “should award Stellantis monetary damages” that result from a breach of contract.
UAW Volkswagen Workers Negotiating For Strong First Contract
October 3, 2024 // Negotiations are underway between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Volkswagen in Tennessee as the two sides work to hammer out the very first contract between VW union members and the automaker. Earlier this year, 4,300 workers at the VW's Chattanooga plant voted almost 3-to-1 to join the UAW, becoming the first Southern autoworkers outside the Big Three to unionize. The all-electric VW ID.4 is one model built at the plant.
Commentary: The UAW Puts Academics Ahead of Autoworkers
September 29, 2024 // Nor are autoworkers heading to the picket line for student-loan forgiveness. But the UAW thinks that topic matters, once again at the insistence of graduate students who have never been to a factory. Last year, after the Supreme Court struck down the Biden-Harris administration’s first scheme to “cancel” student debt, UAW leaders oddly called it an “anti-worker decision.” That’s news to workers at the Rawsonville plant, many of whom have already repaid thousands of dollars in college tuition and have no desire to work overtime to pay off the student loans of those who chose to go to college and willingly took on debt.
Opinion: The Dangers of Union Expansion in Missouri
September 25, 2024 // Consider the fact also that the UAW has spent lavishly on travel, hotels, and executive salaries over the past several years. For example, from 2013 to 2018, the UAW spent $43 million on hotels and resorts and $4 million on restaurants and bars. Two past UAW Presidents have been convicted of felonies involving financial mismanagement. Meanwhile, current President Shawn Fain is under investigation by a federal court-appointed watchdog. Fain has been accused by two union officials of retaliating against them when they refused to take actions that would have benefited Fain’s fiancé and her sister.
Boeing union members are angry they lost their pension plan. They’re not likely to get it back
September 24, 2024 // But the fact is that the traditional pension plans, once a staple of the retirement of many workers, have become exceedingly rare in the modern American workplace. And once a company drops traditional pensions plans to shift employees to a 401(k) type of retirement account, they are almost always gone for good. While other unions have also sought to have lost pension plans restored, as the United Auto Workers union did during its successful strike at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis last fall, no American union has ever succeeded in bringing them back. Even though the auto strike produced a deal with record pay raises and other gains for the UAW, it did not restore pension plans to workers hired since 2007.
Commentary: Labor strikes add to Harris union headache after Teamsters snub
September 23, 2024 // The announcement laid bare what could be a major liability for Harris ahead of the election. She is supported by most labor leaders, but rank-and-file members could deny her the presidency if they show up instead for Trump. But Harris also has a second emerging labor headache: Several unions are considering strikes, threatening to upend supply chains weeks out from the November election. Last Friday, more than 30,000 Boeing workers walked off the job, and dockworkers at ports along the Gulf and East coasts are threatening their own strike next month. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain similarly announced on Tuesday his organization will hold strike authorization votes against auto manufacturer Stellantis.
A year after the strike is the UAW still winning?
September 19, 2024 // HSU: Yeah. And Ailsa, you know, people who closely follow the auto industry have told me, you know, it's a very cyclical industry. We saw car sales go through the roof during the pandemic, when people - when Americans were flush with cash. That was never going to last forever. And now the automakers are also in the middle of this really messy and costly transition to EVs. The UAW is really fighting for its place in that transition. It did make some progress in the last contract negotiations - for example, getting GM battery workers under the National Labor Agreement. BISAHA: Yeah. And along those lines, earlier this month, we had a thousand battery workers at a GM joint venture battery plant in Tennessee. They joined the UAW, too. HSU: Yeah. That was a big win for the UAW. But, you know, as for Stellantis, this week, the union filed federal labor charges against the company, really in an attempt to get Stellantis to follow through on its investment promises, including reopening that plant in Belvidere. You know, this is just not going to be an easy fight, and it's one that I expect will probably end up in court.